 by Anu Mandavilli
Over 30 community members spoke out during the San Jose City Council meeting on June 2nd, 2009, about the targeting of Raj Jayadev, an activist of color, by the San Jose Police Officers Association. In an earlier meeting of the San Jose City Council on May 5th, Raj Jayadev had offered a public comment where he referred to a citizen’s rally against abuse of power by the SJPD, and spoke about the deteriorating trust between the SJPD and the people of San Jose, and the need for greater accountability. Subsequently, members of the community drew Mr. Jayadev’s attention to the fact that the SJPOA had inserted a series of hostile and sarcastic comments into the video of his testimony, and was now displaying it on the SJPOA’s YouTube Channel. The video clip is here: http://www.youtube.com/user/SanJosePOA The Public Forum, which lasted over an hour was a remarkable show of solidarity, and included individuals from a variety of organizations including the Asian Law Alliance, CHAM Deliverance Ministry, Coalition for Justice and Accountability, San Jose Cop Watch, San Jose Peace & Justice Center, Silicon Valley Debug and others. Speakers drew on a range of arguments to decry the SJPOA’s intimidatory tactics, and efforts to squash public debate. Attorney Aram James called upon the protections afforded by the U.S. Constitution while community activist Liz Gonzalez expressed disappointment that the SJPOA and the city administration had forgotten sacred ideals of public service. Brian Helmle from Cop Watch invoked the SJPD’s past record in terms of abuse of power, in particular against members of minority communities, while Attorney Richard Konda cited his nine-year association with Silicon Valley Debug, and vouched for Jayadev’s peaceful politics. A statement from the San Jose Peace & Justice center underlined the fact that as public servants, the Police will always be accountable to public oversight. The SJPJC called upon the city Council to censure the SJPOA, and to facilitate public participation in Democratic processes without fear of reprisal by the police. (Click here to read the complete statement of the SJPJC). A number of speakers, young and old, men and women, African-American, Caucasian and Latina, offered moving personal stories of being assisted by Mr. Jayadev and others at Silicon Valley Debug, which they said offered a safe space during difficult junctures in their lives, including in situations that involved encounters with the SJPD. According to CBS News, the SJPOA hired a professional PR firm to produce the video as a response to Jayadev’s comment, although it remains unclear how mocking someone’s English would be an appropriate response to a serious report about the community’s distrust of police. The need of the hour is an honest dialogue between the police and the people of San Jose that are calling for greater accountability on the part of SJPD. Belligerent reactions such as this video only lend further credence to allegations about SJPD’s racist and discriminatory behavior towards members of the African-American, Filipino, Latino, and Vietnamese communities, and many other residents of San Jose. We hope that progressive members of the SJPD will step forward to work with the people of San Jose to build a better relationship and to foster trust, and in facilitating greater accountability by public servants. Follow up: SJPJC Statement regarding harassment by San Jose Police Community Speakout Tuesday June 30th, 12.30 p.m. San Jose City Hall Plaza |
